A mum who lost two fingers in a freak accident says she is now being “harassed” online by a fetish community.
Natasha Baggett, 31, claims she receives regular messages online from people who “cut off their own fingers” and “get sexual kicks” from her disability.
She lost two fingers in a woodwork accident in May 2019, and says she has faced harassment online since. After losing her middle and index fingers and the top of her thumb on her right hand, Natasha quickly adapted to life with just eight digits and was even given a robotic hand through her insurance.
Mum-of-five Natasha, from South Seattle, Washington State, said: “It seems such a small thing to lose fingers compared to other limbs, but you need your fingers for everything.
“I thought not having my fingers would be the hardest part, but it’s actually dealing with these crazy people online. I was sickened to find out they also get a sexual kick from it.”
“The images on their profiles are extremely disturbing once you realize that they have chopped off their own fingers.”
Natasha lost her fingers while making a laptop table for a high school student with a brain tumour.
Despite not being a professional carpenter she took the hobby seriously – juggling multiple projects at a time. But while levelling out a plank of wood for the table, the saw she was using kicked back and flipped the plank into the air.
When the plank came back down, it knocked Natasha’s fingers into the blade. In the aftermath of the accident, while waiting for the ambulance, Natasha located one of her fingers in a pile of sawdust.
She was taken to Harborview Hospital, Seattle, where medics were forced to amputate due to the damage to her knuckles. Despite her life-changing injuries, once Natasha was discharged from the hospital, she still completed the table for the young boy with the brain tumor.
Natasha – who is married to Phil Baggett, 39, an airline pilot – said: “I hated the idea of coming back to a messy house after the hospital so I did a bit of cleaning before the ambulance arrived. I’m a mum-of-five so it takes a lot to phase me.”
After adapting to her disability, Natasha was fitted with a robotic hand from Naked Prosthetics – which has proved useful when changing nappies, cooking and working.
She said: “I started posting on Instagram about my injury because I wanted to help other people who were going through the same. And then all the weird messages just came flooding in.
“I was getting at least one message every week before I started reporting and blocking them. At first I thought I was getting supportive messages from other amputees as they were asking details of my accident.
“But then I realised the people I was talking to had cut their own digits off for the thrill of it.”
She has since learnt that this community that fetishises amputees call themselves “hobby surgeons” and often cut their own fingers and toes off “knuckle by knuckle”.
During the four years since the accident, Natasha has been sent some “really weird requests” – including people asking for pictures of her nubs and making inappropriate sexualized comments about her hands.
Although she “hates” the negative attention from them, the plucky mum has also used social media to connect with other amputees in support groups.
Natasha – who is mum to, Payton, 14, Natalie, 12, Charlotte, seven, Genevieve, five, and Lucciana, three – said: “The support groups have been vital to my recovery, they have made me realise that I’m not alone and life goes on.
“But unfortunately some these hobby surgeons have infiltrated our support groups, totally invading our safe space, in order to find more amputees to harass.
“It is absolutely terrifying that there are such sick and twisted people out there, and they are harassing people with disabilities.”
